Sanitary conveyer.



T. BEMIS, s SANH'ARY CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3| I914.

11. $55597? Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

Z0172? asses.

mplified "peered; c

E @Tddfid PATEN h.

THOMAS BEMIS, $3., 01 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, AS SIGNOR. TO THE LAMSONCOMPANY,

0]? BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS,'A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SANITARY CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 11918.

Application filed July 3, 191%. fierial 1\l'o. 849,003.

and useful Improvements in Sanitary Con tlon.

This invention relates to an improvement in belt conveyers and the likeand to a method of sanitation for devices of this description.

As is well known in the belt conveyer art, devices of this character areapt to become uncleanly by reason of the accumulation'of dirt and dustof various descriptions (depending upon the usage to which the conveyeris put) in the pores ofthe fabric or upon the surface ofthe belt.

This tendency to collectdirt is aggravated by the tendency of the beltto become elec-' trified when in operation and to thereby attract srnallparticles of dust. To the best of my knowledge the only attempts to maintain adeviceof this character in sanitary condition. which haveheretofore beenmade, have involved the use of manual. labor, whichofcourse is more or less expensive and furveyers, of which the followingis a specificather is objectionable since the scouring of the belt byhand must either be done at some time when the conveyer is not inoperation or else such procedure is apt to'interfere with the normal useof the device.

The nature .of the materials usually employed for belts particularlyadapts them to cleansing by an air current due to a departure fromatmospheric pressure at points adjacent the parts being cleaned; sinceif the belt be of woven material Such as can-, va's',;it 1S porous.and'if a suction nozzle be presented to a surface thereof, atmosphericpressure will drive the accumulated dust or dirt out of these pores intothe nozzle; whereas, if the belt be .of leather, and consequentlynormallyimpervious to the air,,the collectionof dirt thereupon will besuperticial in character and. the suction device will, therefore,readily remove it fromthe carrying urface. i

In the "accompanying; drawing which forms a part hereof and in. which"like reference characters throughout the respect f'designate"like'fparts.

ratus embodying a conveyer belt and means for maintaining the same insanitary conditi n, but as I am aware of various changes andmodifications which may be made in these constructions, withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention, I desire to be limited onlyby the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawing; Figure 1 is a plan view of a combined geltconveyer and cleansing apparatus thereor.

Fig.2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a section taken on line IIIIII 1 '70 Fig. 4 is a verticalmedian section taken of Fig. 2.

mounted upon pulleysQ and 3 and rollers 4 may be disposed at convenientintervals along the length thereof to support the same in a knownmanner. These pulleys and rollers may be mounted between side-boards 5and 6; andlthe pulley 2'is, in the present instance, driven by a pulley7 and belt 8, so that the belt 1 may be advanced continuously in thedirectionof the arrows indicated adjacent thereto, for the conveyance ofparcels and various other articles.

In the form of device shown in Figs. 1 and 2, fast and loose pulleys97-9 may be conveniently mounted upon the extremity of the shaft whichcarries the pulleys 2 and 7, and a nai'row belt '10, provided with theusual shifting device 1l,transmi ts power fromthefast pulley 9 to thecorresponding Thein-take side ofthe blower is connected to a dustcollector 14 of any suitable construction and the latter in turn isconnected by a pipe15'with avacuum nozzle '16, 'prefg' mans! ns a were;

aerate-.

bracket 17 carried from the underside of the conveyer, so that the mouthof the nozzle may lightly wipe against the underside of the belt whenthe nozzle has been turned up into engagement therewith.

The nozzle may have an operating handle 18 and preferably has the mouththereof arcuately formed so as to permit belt lacings or the like toride easily thereover; said mouth presenting an extended wearing surfaceto the belt, as best shown in Fig. 4:.

Ordinarily the nozzle will be turned down into its, dotted line positionshown in Fig.

2, so that the mouth thereof is out of en-.

gagementwith the belt, but when it is desired to clean the latter, saidnozzle is rotated clockwise as viewed in Fig. 2, until it engages thestop 19, and since the belt is traveling in a direction which tends tomaintain this nozzle in engagement with its stop no further attentionneed be paid to the device after it has been started into opera-.

tion until the belt has been sufliciently cleaned; whereupon the nozzlemay be rotated counter-clockwise to its normal position.

This nozzle should preferably engage the belt at a point intermediate apair of rollers 4 so that the belt may have a slight tendency to sagdown into engagement therewith, and in practice it has been found that afew turns of the conveyer in the morning, suffice to free the belt fromthe the same belt or other drive which is used for the conveyer.

It frequently happens. however, that in a store or factory a pluralityof conveyers of the type in question may be more or less adjacentlydisposed, in which case the partial vacuum for operating the one or moresanitation devices employedmay be conveniently generated at a singlepoint; a

pipe 15 leading'therefrom to the nozzle which cleansany given conveyer.

Where a separate nozzle'is employed for each conveyer, the particularnozzle construction shown adapts itself to the provision in connectiontherewith of a rotary valve 20. best shown in Fig. 6. Herein the nozzle.designated 16, may be substantially likethat previously describedexcept-that instead of the rotary mouth thereof opening at all timesinto the pipe '15, said mouth is ported laterally to constitute the saidvalve 20 and hence when the nozzle isturned 7 down through 90 degrees,this port therein and the corresponding end of the channel or passagewayin the pipe 15' are out of registration. Hence the mere act of turningthe nozzle out of engagement with the belt suflices to also cutoff thefiow of air through this nozzle. 7

The details of construction of theswiveling connections between thenozzle 16 and its pipe 15 and the nozzle 16 audits. connection 15 areplainly indicated in the drawing and hence need not be herein moreparticularly described; and it will beiunderstood of course thatsuitable-means for regulating the flow of air through the pipes 15 or15may be provided, such, forexample, as a valve 21;

It is believed'that the method of operating a belt conveyer to maintainthe belt.

thereof substantially free fromdust and.

dirt, which is embodied in the above 'disclosure, is quite broadly new;and 1 particularly desire to call attention to the fact that in sooperating a, conveyer of the type in question the disposition of thesuction nozzle in proximity to theunderside of the.

belt is to'be preferred, since, for, one thing,

as the particles of dirt are loosened from the belt, gravity tends toaidtheir removal,

the air current of course'co-actingwithgravity to this end. Furthermore,sincethe belt is preferably driven continuously in one direction duringthe cleansingoperation, each time that a portion thereof passes around apulley, the material of the belt at i such portion is flexed alternatelyfirst in one directionand then in the'other, and this action tends toloosen the dust and dirt upon the belt. Of course, were it not for thefact that such dirt is then removed by the air current entering thesuction nozzle, it would ultimately either be worked back into the beltor would be thrown oif into the surrounding air.

Again, owing to the fact that the belt-is being driven continuouslyduring the cleansing operation, the successive portions there of aredrawn repeatedly across the nozzle, being as aforesa dflexed betweentlmes; and

hence in a number of particulars the above cleansing operation zleisemployedr Finally, I desire to direct attentionto the differs fromother a cleansing operations 111 which a suction nozadvantageousdisposition of the pivotal axis 7 of the nozzle,extending, as it'does,transversely of the belt, which permits of a nozzle having a relativelywide mouth, which extends more or less transversely of-the belt, beingturned down away from the latter whenever desired without disturbingthe. support for such nozzle.

Having thus described my invention What I claim is 1. The combination ofa porous belt for V carrying articles, with two pulleys upon which saidbelt is mounted, means to drive .one of said pulleys to thereby drivesaid belt and the other pulley and to also cause successive portions ofthe belt to flex reversely and in alternate directions as they passaround said pulleys, to loosen the dirt- Which may have collected in thepores of said belt, means to cause currents of air to pass into saidpores upon one side of said belt and out of said pores together with theloosened dirt at the other side of said belt,

after said portions have been thus reversely belt to obviate unnecessarywear thereof When not in use, the pivotal axisof the nozzle extendingtransversely to the direction so of movement of the belt, and means toprevent inadvertent rotation oi said nozzle by said belt When the nozzleis in engagement with the same.

3. A belt conveyer, the belt of Which is subject to the collection ofdust and dirt thereupon, suction means for removing said dust and dirt,said means including a suction nozzle, means to create a partial vacuumin said nozzle and means to mount- 4 said nozzle so that it may be movedinto contact With or away from and substantially clear of said belt toobviate unnecessary Wear thereof when not in use, and means to preventinadvertent movement of said nozzle by said belt when the nozzle is inen gagement with the same.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

THOMAS BEMIS, SR. lVitnesses W. H. PALMER, F. P. IRISH.

Games 02 this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

